The Louisiana State University Tigers are entering the 2026 college football season with genuine optimism. The biggest talking point is Lane Kiffin’s arrival from Ole Miss on a seven-year, $91 million contract.
As the Tigers prepare for fall camp, Ole Miss legend Eli Manning spoke about the program’s former head coach.
Ole Miss Legend Eli Manning Makes Feelings Clear on Lane Kiffin
Manning thanked Kiffin for his contribution to Ole Miss and for building the program, but is now looking forward to the future.
“I’m excited about the program, you know, thankful for Lane and what he did for Ole Miss in building that program to where it is today, and we got to continue that,” Manning said. “Ole Miss fans have that game marked when LSU comes to town. So we’ll be watching it and obviously watching all the games for Ole Miss.
Despite his success at Ole Miss, Kiffin feels it was the right decision to move to LSU.
“After a lot of prayer and time spent with family, I made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU,” he shared in a post on X after completing the deal. “While I am looking forward to a new start with a unique opportunity at LSU, I will forever cherish the incredible six years I spent at Ole Miss and will be rooting hard for the team to complete their mission and bring a championship to Oxford.”
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The seven-year agreement made him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football history. Pete Golding, who served as Kiffin’s defensive coordinator with the Rebels, now runs the program at Ole Miss.
Still, the departure left real anger behind in Oxford. Kiffin walked away from the Rebels during their College Football Playoff push at the end of the 2025 season. Videos of Ole Miss fans screaming insults and flipping him off as he boarded a private jet spread quickly online.
Kiffin, though, brushed off any suggestion of regret. “Once you make those expectations, they forget the stadium was half empty when we got there,” he said to Vanity Fair in May. “Once you involve money, everything changes.”
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Beyond the personal fallout, he framed the decision as a straightforward business move. NIL money, transfer portal chaos, and billion-dollar television contracts have completely changed the sport.
“No coach I talked to at any point ever said, ‘Stay there,'” Kiffin said. “You got one life… It’s my story. And I choose for this to be the next chapter.”
Kiffin’s move to LSU only reinforced his standing as one of the sport’s most polarizing coaches. His career arc runs through the Oakland Raiders, Tennessee, USC, Alabama, FAU, and Ole Miss, and every stop came with its share of drama and messy exits.
So, when can we see the rivalry between Ole Miss and LSU? Kiffin will be back in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on September 19, but this time he stands on the visitors’ sideline when the Tigers visit Oxford.
